Translation of abstract (English)

The present study examined 80 in-patients with Major Depression (DSM-IV) concerning possible associations between the course of the depression and personality characteristics as well as personality disorders of the patients. Therefore patients were examined at different times by interviews and questionnaires during their treatment in hospital. The main result was that depressive patients with personality disorders tended to be more depressive at the beginning of their treatment, their depression responded later to the therapy and these patients were still more depressive at hospital discharge than depressive patients without personality disorders. Nevertheless the depression remitted in most of the patients with personality disorders. In many of the examined variables there were no statistically significant differences between depressive patients with and without personality disorders. One conclusion is that further studies ought to examine each personality disorder alone instead of all personality disorders together, because the personality disorders might differ in their relevance for the course of depression.